Nn To Decide On Glen Gardens

Developers Plan 40 Townhouses, 67 Houses On Site

NEWPORT NEWS — Developers want to build 67 homes and 40 townhouses at the site of the former Glen Gardens apartment complex in Newport News.

The City Council is scheduled to decide on the projects at its meeting tonight.

If approved, the projects will give low- to moderate-income people an opportunity to buy affordable, energy-efficient homes, according to developer Jay Epstein.

"They're going to be working-class people," said Epstein, president of Gabriel Enterprises, which would build the homes. "They're going to be first-time homeowners. They're going to be retirees."

Tonight, the council is scheduled to vote on whether to turn over the 20 acres where Glen Gardens used to stand, in the city's East End, to the Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

That would allow the authority to essentially turn the property over to the developers, who would be responsible for bringing in needed street and other infrastructure improvements.

"This gives us an opportunity to increase the economic activity in the southern part of the city," said Karen Wilds, the authority's director of community development.

The authority has already unanimously approved the proposal by Gabriel Enterprises and Chestnut Square Limited Partnership, both of Newport News. The latter wants to develop the 40 townhouses.

Epstein is calling the project "The Villages of Newport."

The three- or four-bedroom homes, on 6,600-square-foot lots, will come in four different styles, according to Epstein. They'll range in size from 1,150 square feet to 1,808 square feet.

Because the land won't cost him anything, Epstein said, he'll be able to sell homes there for less than their appraised values.

They'll sell for between $80,000 and $105,000, Epstein said.

A park in the middle of the development is also planned, with a fitness trail and play area for children.

Epstein is particularly pleased with his company's plans for building energy-efficient homes, with guaranteed heating and cooling rates.

The homes will also be built to make sure the indoor air quality is high, Epstein said.

Chestnut Square, meanwhile, is applying for federal credits to build the townhouses, according to Wilds and Epstein.

Investors would get credits on their federal income taxes for 12 to 15 years in exchange for setting rents that are affordable to families with incomes below $25,800, Wilds said.

After the tax credits expire, the renters would become owners by forming a cooperative, Wilds explained.

COUNCIL TIME

* The Newport News City Council will discuss the Villages of Newport housing development at its afternoon work session today, which starts at 2 p.m. on the 10th floor of City Hall. The issue is scheduled for a vote at the regular meeting, which starts at 7:30 p.m. in council's chambers in the building behind City Hall.